The Woodlands Edition | September 2019

focus TION EDUC

C o n t i n g e n cy — plans — If Conroe ISD’s $653.6 million November bond fails, district officials expect major operational and financial changes that could include:

package, which district ocials and local partisan groups attributed to the bond’s composition, low county voter turnout and the campaigning eorts of political action committees that opposed the proposition. “You’ve got an o-cycle election, and the only people who are voting are passionately against more spend- ing. That balance tends to favor the people who show up,” Rottinghaus said. CONTINGENCY PLANNING The district’s chief concern—growth by an estimated , to , students annually over the next decade—is one of the driving factors behind the board’s contingency plans if the main bond does not pass, Null said. A dra contingency plan released in August includes possible tax hikes, the elimination of the new capital main- tenance fund, stang cuts and a hir- ing freeze. Eects on students could include increased class sizes, a delay to state-mandated full-day pre-K, decreased programming and rezoning. If Proposition A fails, Null said the cuts could be required to address pro- jected shortfalls of . million for the - school year and more than million in -. With a third bond unlikely in , the board would move to implement changes before next school year. Null said stang cuts and future pay raise freezes would be among the likely rst steps following an unsuc- cessful bond election as nearly % of CISD’s budget is dedicated to salary-re- lated items. Ocials said fewer teach- ers on sta would also result in larger class sizes. “If we don’t have new schools and new teachers but we still have these kids coming in, we have to put them in classrooms that will be bigger than

which weren’t that, and we expressed that to Dr. Null.” In August, Texas Patriots members said the PAC was still deliberating its stance on the November propositions. Cody Bartlett, a member of CISD’s planning committee for the May bond who campaigned with the Commu- nity for Conroe ISD’s Future PAC in the spring, said he believes more commu- nity members are now likely to support the November bond. “I have seen an increase in commu- nity engagement given the disappoint- ing result this past May and expect to see more community members become educated on the new package and ulti- mately supportive,” he said. Brandon Rottinhaus, a University of Houston political science professor, said referendums are oen the only viable option for districts to address immediate concerns such as a steady rise in annual enrollment. “School districts are signicantly dependent on local money to fund growth or extra initiatives,” he said. “That’s probably the hardest thing that any school district has to do, is to locate new revenue. Most school dis- tricts are stuck in terms of funding, at least in the short term.” May’s million bond proposal eclipsed the district’s million bond and million bond, both of which passed with more than % voter approval. While touted as a necessary investment in the district’s ever-growing student population and aging facilities, district ocials said the May proposal’s record size may have deterred some voters. “While not out of line with districts our size, it certainly was a number that I think startled many folks,” Null said following the spring election. The May bond election ended with a .% majority voting against the

F i n a n c i a l

Staffing cuts, hiring freezes: The district’s workforce and teachers’ future raises could be reduced.

o p e r at i o n a l

Rezoning: Potential changes include rezoning of some students in The Woodlands, College Park and Oak Ridge high school feeder zones.

Potential changes in feeder zones The Woodlands High School College Park High School

1488

242

Oak Ridge High School

SOURCE:CONROE ISD/ COMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER

May vs. November election turnout

Montgomery County typically sees a higher voter turnout in November compared to May.

what The Woodlands and what Con- roe ISD has become accustomed to,” Hubert said. Hubert said the potential rezoning could aect students’ paths through the district as well. A dra rezoning map released alongside the board’s contingency plan features shied attendance patterns for some children in The Woodlands, College Park and Oak Ridge high school feeder zones. Null said the district might also lose its “pure feeder” junior high structure in which all students at individual junior high schools go on to attend the same high school. Null said the contingency plan was released in August to inform voters of CISD’s uncertain path forward from a possible bond rejection, which is now less clear than the previous solution of calling for another election. “If this is the plan that ultimately the community chooses, then we just want

Key:

May

November

66.37%

57.41%

16.22%

4.14%

2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 10.31% 7.32% 6.87% 5.78% 7.33%

SOURCE:CONROE ISD/ COMMUNITY IMPACT

NEWSPAPER

to make sure everyone is aware, and we’re very sensitive to the fact that we don’t want to be fearmongers or threat- ening,” he said. “What we have there is the list of things that could be done. As far as how much, and would all those things be done, likely not.”

For more information visit communityimpact.com .

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The Woodlands edition • September 2019